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SG-1000
SG-1000 = The SG-1000 ''is a 8-bit home video game console, this is ''Sega's first introduction into the home video game hardware business. The SG-1000 was developed & manufactered by Sega. Hayao Nakayama was the owner of the SG-1000. On July 15, 1983, the SG-1000 was released on that date, & on July 1984, the SG-1000 was discontinued. In Japan, the SG-1000 was sold for ¥15,000 with no games, only the console & 2 controllers. The console was only available since 1983-1984. Shortly after the release, Sega Enterprises was sold to CSK Corporation, which was followed by the release of the SG-1000 II. The SC-3000 and the SG-1000 line both support a library of 76 ROM cartridge games and 29 Sega My Card games, all of which are fully compatible with the Mark III and the Japanese version of the Master System. Early models in Japan had black labels and a slightly different logo (sometimes referred to as the "German Model" due to similarities with the German flag), but these are a considerably rarer sighting. The SG-1000 made little impact on the video game industry, but has been recognized for being Sega's first video game console. Retro Gamer writer Damien McFerran said it was an "abject failure", but called it and the SG-1000 II "the Japanese forefathers of the Master System". Writing for Wired, Chris Kohler criticized the poor response of the controller's joystick and the lack of an RCA output. He said the release timing hurt its success; "although its graphics were of better quality than most consoles on the market, it had the bad luck to be released in the same month as Nintendo's world-changing Famicom, which had killer apps like Donkey Kong and could run circles around Sega's hardware." Unlike the early "German Model", the second, and most commonly found, model features a blue label rather than black. Their was a model released in New Zealand, and it was renamed as the "Sega 1000" and resembles the second Japanese model, with a blue stripe and the addition of Grandstand's name. Of its legacy, Kohler said, "Few have heard of it, even fewer have played it, and the games weren't that great anyway." One time, Bit Corp produced the Dina 2 in one SG-1000 clone, likely without a license, which also had the ability to run ColecoVision games. In North America this was distributed by Telegames as the Telegames Personal Arcade. The SG-1000 was also released in "module" form as the Pioneer TV Video Game Pack SD-G5. Game Pak The SG-1000 had a weird appearnce to show that the console can read Cartridge based games and Cards, which no other console can do back in that generation. This type of way spread to the Sega Master System. All SG-1000/''SC-3000'' software are fully compatible with the Mark III and Japanese Master System. In fact, many Sega My Card games were produced after the Mark III was launched in 1985 and these later releases advertised their compatibility with the Mark III as a selling point. The final SG-1000/''SC-3000'' game was The Black Onyx, released in My Card format in 1987. Controller The Game Controller that was used for the SG-1000 looked just like the Atari 7200' controller. The controller only had 3 layout buttons: A joystick & 2 side buttons located at the top of the controler that are not labeled. There was no other third party controllers made for the console, since it was discontinued very fast. The controller port at the end connects to the side of the console, port at the front of the console like what the other ones did. Besides, the wire is awfully short. Motherboard The ''SG-1000 ''motherboard contains a 8-bit Zilog Z80 central processing unit running at 3.58 MHz for the ''SG-1000, It's video processor is a Texas Instruments TMS9928A, capable of displaying up to 16 colors, and its sound processor is a Texas Instruments SN76489. ''All three chips were also used in the ColecoVision. '''''The system includes 8 kbit (1 KB) of random access memory (RAM), and the power is supplied through a 9 V DC connector connected to an AC adapter. Category:Browse Category:Third Range Category:Console